Sykora expected to continue to sit out for game 1.

Bylsma has indicated that Sykora will get back into the lineup, but it does not appear likely to happen in game 1 Saturday. Satan is still in. Also, there is some speculation that when Sykora does get back in the lineup, it won't be in the place of Satan, it may be in the place of Craig Adams.
Eric Godard likely won't see game time due to Donald Brashear's 6 game suspension that has 5 games left to it.
Alexander Ovechkin not practicing today, but the Caps say it is just a rest and that he is not injured.

Malkin up for Hart Trophy.

All three finalists for this year's Hart Trophy happen to be Russian. Evgeni Malkin, Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk, and Washington's Alex Ovechkin are the 3 nominees for this year's award.
The winner will be announced at the 2009 NHL Awards show that will air on June 18th.

Pens face Capitals

Round 2 against the Washington Capitals begins Saturday at 1 p.m. I expect this series to be an exciting one. Many people are already talking about this series for the fact that it features Ovechkin and Crosby going head to head. I, for one, am tired of the comparisons and all that talk, and also think that Malkin should be thrown in that mix as well. Of course, with Ovechkin trying to run Malkin over every chance he could in the season series this season, it became more of a show between those two. However, we are back at the Crosby vs. Ovechkin talk. I am looking forward to the Pens vs. the Caps. That is the series I will be watching, I don't know about you. Of course, I don't make predictions for many reasons and I don't know what to expect from this series. I imagine it is going to be full of energy and emotion. How it all plays out, we'll just have to wait and see.

2nd Round matchups.

Scenario 1: Capitals and Devils win.

Some might say this is the most-likely scenario, since both teams have home-ice for their Game 7s. If Washington and New Jersey hold serve at home, then Boston would host Pittsburgh in the second round and the Capitals and Devils would open a second-round series in Washington.

Matchups:
No. 1 Boston vs. No. 4 Pittsburgh
No. 2 Washington vs. No. 3 New Jersey

Skinny: The Bruins split the season series with the Penguins two games apiece with one of the Pens' wins coming in a shootout. The Capitals and Devils also split their four matchups, but both of New Jersey's wins came by way of the shootout.

Scenario 2: Capitals and Hurricanes win

This would leave us with an entirely different second round. As the top seed, Boston gets to face the lowest seed remaining, and in this scenario it's Carolina. That would set up a second-round showdown between Washington and Pittsburgh. Is there anyone out there against seeing Alex Ovechkin battle Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in a seven-game series? Probably Devils fans.

Matchups:
No. 1 Boston vs. No. 6 Carolina
No. 2 Washington vs. No. 4 Pittsburgh

Skinny: The Bruins dominated the Hurricanes, winning all four meetings by a combined score of 18-6. The Capitals took three of four from the Penguins, with their only loss in the season series coming in a shootout.

Scenario 3: Rangers and Devils win

Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist has the ability to steal a game, and should he do so Tuesday night, the Rangers will head to Boston to face the top-seeded Bruins in the second round. A Rangers win coupled with a Devils win would result in New Jersey hosting Pittsburgh in Game 1.

Matchups:
No. 1 Boston vs. No. 7 N.Y. Rangers
No. 3 New Jersey vs. No. 4 Pittsburgh

Skinny: The Bruins split the season series with the Rangers with all four contests being one-goal games. The Devils and Penguins also split their season series with each team winning three times.

Scenario 4: Rangers and Hurricanes win

Should the No. 6 and No. 7 seeds pull the upsets, the Rangers will head to Boston and the Penguins will have home-ice advantage in the second round against Carolina. In theory, fourth-seeded Pittsburgh can still have home-ice advantage through the East playoffs.

Matchups:
No. 1 Boston vs. No. 7 N.Y. Rangers
No. 4 Pittsburgh vs. No. 6 Carolina

Skinny: The Rangers and Bruins split their games. The Hurricanes and Penguins also split their four meetings.

- NHL. com

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=420493

2 important games tonight.

The Pens will know who they face in the second round after tonight's Eastern Conference games are over. The Rangers vs. the Capitals and the Hurricanes vs. the Devils. Both are game 7s. However, the Pens can not face the Rangers.

"interim" removed from Coach Bylsma.

Dan Bylsma is no longer the interim coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Today that title of interim was removed and Bylsma signed a multi-year contract. Ray Shero said that Dan Bylsma is the coach he wants to move forward with. Bylsma has had an impressive record with the Pens since being named interim head coach. He lead the Pens to an 18-3-4 record in the final 25 games of the regular season and earned the No. 4 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference.

http://penguins.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=420443

2nd Round opponent unkown as of now.

The Pens will have to wait to find out who they verse in the 2nd round, as the Carolina-New Jersey series is going to a 7th game as well as the Rangers-Washington series. Boston defeated Montreal. The Pens will not be facing the New York Rangers, that much is known. Some expect the 2nd series to start on Thursday.

It is rumored that Sykora will need to go all out in practice to return to the lineup. The Pens need to see some more output from their wingers, like Fedotenko did in Game 6, giving the Pens their first goal and sparking their 5 unanswered goals.

Pens advance to Round 2.

On Saturday the Penguins defeated their biggest rival, the Philadelphia Flyers. The win gave them four in the series, advancing them to round two and eliminating the Flyers. The Pens had a great comeback in Saturday's game. They fell into a 3-0 deficit, but some may say that a fight Max Talbot was involved in and lost, sparked energy on the Pens bench. From then on in the game, the Pens had 5 unanswered goals to go on to a 5-3 victory.

While the Penguins played a spirited game on Saturday and eliminated the Flyers in this first round, the Pens do have a few kinks that need to be worked out. For example, the Power play needs to improve if the Pens want to make it out of another round. Also, the Pens can not allow as many as defensive breakdowns like they did in this series.

While they have some things to work on, I like the fact that this first round was not as easy as last season's playoffs first round for us, or even the 2nd and 3rd for that matter. The Pens responded well to facing some adversity and hopefully that prepares them for the road ahead, because we all know that the road to the Stanley Cup is not smooth, it has its bumps. We just didn't run into many rocks last playoffs until Detroit, up until then, we had pebbles. Now, the Pens know early the bumps they have to face to reach their ultimate goal.

Pens vs. Flyers-Game 5.

Tonight the Flyers and Penguins will meet in Game 5. The Pens lead the series 3-1. Both teams are desperate and both will have to come out strong and play an intense game. I am expecting a physical game and with the different types of games we have seen through this series, who knows what really to expect? Goaltenders could steal a game once again, offense could put the other team away, defense could shut down the other team, special teams could either make or break a team. One thing for sure, the Pens need to get better on the power play and step up their game from Tuesday. Fleury gave us that win.
Dupuis will be moved onto the 2nd line, Satan will be on the 4th line for tonight's game.

Satan in, Sykora out for Game 5.

Petr Sykora who is in a bit of a slump right now will sit out tonight's game against the Flyers, while Miroslav Satan will be in the lineup for the first time since his stint with the Baby Pens.
Also, Kris Letang will be a game time decision and if he is out of the game tonight, Philippe Boucher will be in the lineup.

"We Want to Finish it off." -Crosby

The Penguins will be trying to close out the series tomorrow night in Pittsburgh, and the Flyers will be fighting for their entire season. Both teams will be desperate and it should be an exciting game. Hopefully the home crowd can see the Pens close out the series. Both teams will be looking to move forward, let's just hope the Pens can bring the power they are capable of and Fleury decides to turn in another stellar performance.

Fleury grabs a victory for the Pens in Game 4.

After a bit of a shaky game in game 3, which was not all his fault though, Marc Andre Fleury rebounded with a performance that will go down as one of the best goaltender efforts in the playoffs. Fleury made 45 saves and the lone goal that he allowed, it was a short time after he was knocked down and took a bit of time getting into position and unfortunately the Flyers capitalized before he could. The Penguins earned a 3-1 win and leave Philadelphia with a 3-1 lead in the series. The Pens return to Mellon Arena for game 5 tomorrow night. That fourth victory is sometimes the hardest to come by.

Game 5 a "Whiteout!"

Tomorrow night at Mellon Arena is a Whiteout night. Thursday night is game 5 of the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins series. White t-shirts will be handed out when fans are entering the building as well as white rally towels. The Penguins lead the series 3-1.

Pens vs. Philly Game 4 tonight.

The Pens lost in Philadelphia on Sunday, a disappointing 6-3 loss. A number of things went wrong for the Pens. For example, the defense could have been better and the power play needs to get better if the Pens want to make it far. Enough about that game though, over and done with. We now look to tonight's game.
The Flyers and Pens are playing physical and this game there is nothing less than that expected. The Pens look to get back to what they accomplished in the first 2 games of the series. The Pens look to have the most puck control and get an early start. Hopefully Fleury is a little more sharp tonight than he was in the beginning of the last game when he let their first two shots on net get past him.
Another note: I wish Sykora's scoring touch and really any output would come back. He has had his chances recently but luck is just not going his way. I hope that his luck returns VERY soon!

Carcillo suspended for 1 game.

The NHL gave Daniel Carcillo of the Philadelphia Flyers a one game suspension for his antics in the last few moments of game 1 of the series. His hit on Max Talbot on the last faceoff was reason for the suspension.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=275244

Kunitz has great day!

Chris Kunitz had a pretty eventful day yesterday. The birth of his first child, Zachary, was in the morning and while he almost considered skipping last night's game, he decided to play in the Pens game 1 victory over the Flyers. Kunitz, it's easy to say, had a pretty good day. He now has hopes of sharing his playoff memories with his new son.

http://penguins.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=418652

Game 1 receives record rating on FSN.

Game 1 between the Flyers and Penguins last night recorded the 9th highest rating for a Pens playoff game for FSN with a 14.7 rating.

http://penguins.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=418685

Pens win game 1.

First off, I would like to apologize for not having many posts recently. It is awful at this point in the season, but school work has been keeping me extremely busy. Now to get to business. The Pens played a great game last night at Mellon Arena against the Flyers. The Flyers got into penalty trouble and the Pens took advantage of the first one with Sidney Crosby's goal. The Penguins kept the Flyers on their heels for most of the game and built a 4-0 lead. Unfortunately, a fluky goal ruined Fleury's attempt at a shutout, but that would not deter from the great win. The Flyers did not play a good game, but that does not mean they will necessarily be easy to beat. Be sure the Flyers will be looking to correct themselves tomorrow night against the Pens. The Pens hope to carry the momentum they gained from game 1 into tomorrow's game 2.

Malkin is NHL scoring leader.

Malkin finished the season with 113 points, which was good enough to lead the league. That now makes 4 different players to receive the Art Ross Trophy for the Pittsburgh Penguins: Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Sidney Crosby, and now Evgeni Malkin. These four players have combined for a total of 13 trophies. The most by any team since the trophy was introduced in 1948.

Pens vs. Flyers in first round.

The Pens were able to gain home ice advantage by finishing 4th in the Eastern Conference. They will face the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round that begins tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. This is sure to be a battle to the end. This series will be an exciting one to watch. Some of the numbers for both teams are very similar: http://penguins.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=418281

I have mentioned before, I do not make predictions! What I will say is that this will be a tough series and one to be sure to watch!

Garon likely to start against Islanders.

With only two regular season games left, there is little time to get players some game action. It is likely that Mathieu Garon will be in net tomorrow night against the Islanders and we already know that Boucher will be in tomorrow's lineup. It seems right now that Hal Gill will get the night off.
Players also want to see Evgeni Malkin get the scoring title. They aren't the only ones!

Pens playoff bound.

With last night's win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Penguins clinched a playoff spot. At the beginning of March, the Pens sat in 10th place in the Eastern Conference and now they are in 6th place and have made the playoffs. We will have to wait and see what the Pens do from here in on out. The Pens have two regular season games left against the Islanders tomorrow night and then Montreal on Saturday.
With there only being two games left, Bylsma says that Boucher will be in tomorrow night's lineup against the Islanders. He has not played since Jan. 30th due to injury, but with the playoffs around the corner, they have to be sure that players are ready for game action.

Playoff tickets for first two home games sold out.

Like everyone expected the Pens sold out each of their first two home playoff games. There were about 2,000 tickets for each game. The Pens have yet to clinch a playoff spot, but can do so tonight.

Minor lineup changes.

Matt Cooke will trade places with Ruslan Fedotenko, at least that is how it was in practice today and Eric Godard will take Craig Adams' place. Philippe Boucher will not be back tonight.
Marc Andre Fleury will be in net tonight.

Pens and Lightning meet tonight.

The Pens are playing against the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight, looking to rebound from a two game losing skid. With a win tonight, the Pens will clinch a playoff spot. The Lightning have no hope of making the playoffs. The Lightning are without their number one star, Vincent Lecavalier, for the remainder of the season because of wrist surgery. However, that doesn't mean that the Lightning is a team that can be easily dealt with. Most teams who are not making the playoffs play take joy from spoiling playoff bound teams with a loss. The Pens will have to come out strong like they have been recently and hopefully chances will go our way tonight.

Collection Thursday for "Fallen Heroes Fund."

The Pittsburgh Penguins will be taking donations Thursday night at Mellon Arena to benefit the "Fallen Heroes Fund." The fund will help the families of the victims of the tragedy that occurred this past weekend in Stanton Heights.
http://penguins.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=416931

Pens lose back to back games.

The Penguins played two games this weekend against teams that are fighting for a better position or a spot at all in the Eastern Conference for the playoffs. The Pens ended up losing both of them. The Pens were in the same boat, trying to climb up in position and even trying to claim a guaranteed playoff spot. However, the Pens lost to the Carolina Hurricanes and the Florida Panthers this weekend. The Pens outplayed both teams for a good amount of each game, taking over in shots and having some intensity, but it was not enough to win and the Pens remain at 93 points and 6th place for right now. The Pens will play the Tampa Bay Lightning tomorrow night and they will once again be trying to claim a guaranteed playoff spot with a victory. The Pens will need to refocus and come out strong once again, and hopefully they let nothing stand in their way of getting a victory tomorrow night.

Zigomanis could get back on ice next week.

Mike Zigomanis has been out from a shoulder injury since early December. He said that he is ahead of schedule and plans on returning to the ice next week.

Pens defeat Devils.

Perhaps I gave the New Jersey Devils a little too much credit in yesterday's post. I thought they would be desperate for a win. However, it seemed like the only thing they wanted was to extend their losing streak to an even number. Well, congratulations to the Devils, they have now lost 6 in a row and the Pens handed them their sixth loss in great fashion. A 6-1 win. One where the Pens were successful on the power play and penalty kill. Well, they were successful in almost every way last night. The Pens need to continue playing the way they did last night for the remaining 5 games of the season and we will see where the Pens end up in the playoff race. With last night's win, the Pens moved into a tie with the fourth place Philadelphia Flyers, however the Flyers have a game in hand.

Boucher still expected out tonight.

Philippe Boucher is expected to be out of the lineup again tonight against the New Jersey Devils. Craig Adams is expected to be in the lineup and playing on the fourth line.
Fleury will be in net tonight.
Patrick Elias, of the New Jersey Devils looks to be out for tonight's game.

Pens take on Devils tonight.

The New Jersey Devils have lost 5 straight games. I find that not only to be discouraging to the Devils, but to the Pens as well. The Devils will be desperate to snap out of their losing streak and the Pens have to stay sharp in tonight's game. Not that the Pens can not keep their focus and win, but the Devils, who are a tough team regularly, will have extra motivation tonight. No one is taking this lightly, at least I hope not. The Pens can capitalize on their power play. The Devils are 20th in the league in their penalty kill, but the Pens' power play has been pretty bad recently. Though, the Pens did work on the power play more in the last few practices. Let's hope it shows in tonight's game. The Pens are still in 6th place in the Conference and not that far from 9th or 4th for that matter, but they realize how big each game is. Therefore, both teams have a lot to show tonight.